Heredity of Drink—See Drink, Heritage of.
Heroes, Missionary—See Missions.
HEROISM
The newspapers tell us that the colored regiments continue to come in for praises for their good work at Santiago, and they seem to have as good a sense of humor as an Irishman:
The Rough Riders were in a bad position
on San Juan Hill at one time, and it is generally
admitted that they could not have
held their position but for the splendid
charge of the Ninth Cavalry to their support.
After the worst of the fighting was
over a rough rider, finding himself near one
of the colored troopers, walked up and
grasped his hand, saying: "We've got you
fellows to thank for getting us out of a bad
hole." "Dat's all right, boss," said the negro,
with a broad grin. "Dat's all right. It's all
in de fam'ly. We call ouahselves de colored
rough riders!" (Text.)
(1398)
In the long watch before Santiago the terror of our great battleships was the two Spanish torpedo-boat destroyers, those swift, fiendish sharks of the sea, engines of death and destruction, and yet, when the great battle came, it was the unprotected Gloucester, a converted yacht, the former plaything and pleasure-boat of a summer vacation, which, without hesitation or turning, attacked these demons of the sea and sunk them both. I have always thought it the most heroic and gallant individual instance of fighting daring in the war. It was as if some light-clad youth, with no defense but his sword, threw himself into the arena with armored gladiators and by his dash and spirit laid them low. And yet who has given a sword or spread a feast to that purest flame of chivalrous heroism, Richard Wainwright?—Hon. John D. Long.
(1399)
William H. Edwards, a 'longshoreman, twenty-five years old, who forgot race prejudice in his anxiety to be of service to his fellow men, was awarded a silver medal by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission and also $1,000 to be applied to the purchase of a home.
While the Arcadia, a freight steamer, plying between Hamburg and Philadelphia, was being unloaded in June, 1908, an explosion in the cargo occurred. Most of the stevedores working below decks were knocked down and bruised, some being burned. Many of the workers deserted the ship. Smoke and flames came from the hatches. Cries of the injured below decks came to the party of men waiting on deck.
Edwards volunteered to attempt the rescue of the imprisoned men. Tying a rope to a lighter, he slid into the burning hold, but could find nothing. Hearing groans he deserted his guide-rope and bending low searched in the direction of the cries of pain. After a long search he located Lucius Hubbard, a negro. Bearing the unconscious and injured workman to the open hatch, he had him hoisted to the deck and safety, following himself when assured there was no other person in the burning vessel.
(1400)
The following dispatch from Mankato, Minn., is given by the Baltimore Sun:
With one foot cut off and his legs mangled,
Rudolph Elmquist, an eighteen-year-old
railroad operator, crawled a mile to his
operating station and sounded a warning to
Mankato, which saved probably one hundred
lives.
Elmquist tried Friday night to get on the evening freight-train caboose for Mankato, where he boarded. He slipt and fell beneath the wheels. The freight crew saw him fall and feared he had been hurt. The train stopt about a mile away and began to back up to investigate.
The St. Paul passenger train was nearly due and the track was supposed to be clear for it. As one side of the curved track is along a high embankment and river, a disastrous crash was imminent.
Elmquist saw the train backing up the track and tried, waving his arms, to stop it. Failing to find him in the night, the freight crew prepared to go forward again.
Elmquist again tried to attract attention, but in vain. He then began dragging himself over the grass along the track to his station and reached his key about half an hour later, suffering torture.
He wired the Great Western operator at Mankato: "My foot is cut off and No. 271 is coming back to pick me up. She will have to have help against No. 142, which is due at Mankato in a few minutes."
Then he fainted and fell across his desk. He was hurried to a hospital, where it was said both legs would have to be amputated.
(1401)
See Gratitude; Lost, Cry of the; Rescue.
